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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

3 month old sleep - please please help

15 replies

Spatchy · 14/10/2013 09:02

My DS has just turned 3 months and his sleep has been gradually going downhill to the point now where I can barely function during the day. I have a 3 year old DS to look after. He was doing quite well until recently. Typically he sleeps a 5 hour chunk between 7 and midnight and was then waking up perhaps twice more before 7, if we were lucky, once. Now he wakes up all he time between the first feed at midnight and about 4-5am. I pick him up, he falls asleep on me, I hold him for a long period, put him down. He either wakes and I start again or he stays asleep but then wakes anywhere between 10 and 45 mins later. Sometimes I give him a breast feed, but be doesn't really seem to take much, just feeds a bit falls asleep. Then we start all over again. Please, please tell me what's going on and offer any advice. I am not philosophically opposed to any approach, but I fear 12 weeks is too young to do much?

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PancakesMum1 · 14/10/2013 12:02

Hi Spatchy. My DD is 3.5 months and we've had almost exactly the same... I think it's the "4 month sleep regression" (a bit early) - it's linked to developmental leaps and is because their sleeping patterns change around now. Apparently they switch from newborn style sleep to adult style sleep. Am really hoping it won't last much longer!! Good luck!

Spatchy · 14/10/2013 19:38

Hi PancakesMum1 and thanks for replying. Well at least I'm not alone! So much for 'things will improve once they hit 12 weeks'...I don't suppose there is anything we can do about it? Change bedtimes, put down differently...I don't know really, I'm just clutching at straws!

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cogitosum · 15/10/2013 08:05

Ds was doing 10-5 but the last 2 nights has woken up 4-5 times. I'm really hoping it's a growth spurt and will only last a cou

cogitosum · 15/10/2013 08:06

Couple of days but not feeling very optimistic. He's 11 weeks.

So no advice just sympathy and watching to see if aby

cogitosum · 15/10/2013 08:07

Anyone has any answers.

Sorry for weird posting. This is what 2 nights with no sleep does!

rootypig · 15/10/2013 08:18

At that age I routinely co-slept with DD - I had to. She wouldn't sleep in her cot. She would sleep perfectly happily in bed with us. It wasn't something I wanted to do - in fact, we bought a cosleeper cot to avoid it. But that wasn't close enough for her. And so I read about safe cosleeping and that's what we did. It gave me the snatched sleep I couldn't survive without, though I was anxious even while sleeping (about squashing her). But it all went really well, I was BF and she would feed in the night while I was barely awake.

kellymom.com/parenting/nighttime/familybed/

Other than that, I worked on her daytime naps, she always went down much more easily for those than at night. And she needed to be well rested to sleep at night - sleep begets sleep. The best advice I got at that age was to put her down for her first nap 90 minutes after waking, it worked like a dream. She would always have that in her cot, to get her used to it. And we made gradual progress, it was always my goal to get her to sleep in her cot, I was too anxious for long term co sleeping.

But she's not a placid baby, in any way, and I think her personality is reflected in her sleep habits (regular wakings, has never slept through). She is 1 in a few weeks and now ready to sleep through having been night weaned.....it's been a long twelve months!

rootypig · 15/10/2013 08:19

BloodysocksAndGore · 15/10/2013 08:22

Have you checked for wind or silent reflux? Try raising the head end of his cot/Moses basket.

cogitosum · 15/10/2013 10:27

Would wind or reflux suddenly manifest at 3 months when digestive problems are meant to abate though?

rootypig · 15/10/2013 18:05

I'm only speaking from experience of one DC but her digestive system seemed to go through changes, rather than have problems that then abated at a specific time, iyswim. She only stopped getting wind at 10mo. If I wish I'd had one piece of advice before she was born, it would be to wind, wind and wind again - I look back on struggles to get her to sleep and this funny head tossing she did when I lay her down and am sure it was wind.

Which is a very long way of agreeing with Bloodysocks

Spatchy · 15/10/2013 20:17

Thank you very much for all your thoughts. He's a really 'sicky' baby - always possets a fair bit after feeds, even as long as 2 hours afterwards. but because he's not dropping weight and not in any obvious pain the various health professionals i've consulted can't agree whether it's reflux or not but concluded it's not worth doing anything about. Plus he was sleeping pretty ok up until the last fortnight. i did try raising the end of his cot with a pillow under the mattress but he kept sort of rolling off the slope and ending up sideways. Has anyone had any success with hiking up the end of the cot itself using books or something?? The cot is so big I fear he would just slide from one end to the other during the night.

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Spatchy · 15/10/2013 20:24

I did also wonder, could it be early teething? He drools a hell of a lot - he has bibs on permanently (except when sleeping) and I am changing them every couple of hours. Plus he does love to chew his hands. At the moment I have him in an ergococoon - a sleeping bag with the arm holes poppered closed as we are trying to transition him from the miracle blanket swaddle,which he was forever breaking out of. I don't know if this has contributed to his sleep issues, but he goes down quite happily in the bag every night awake so he certainly doesn't dislike it. I'd like to free his hands - but for his naps find that a problem as he still startles and hits himself in the face, so am too nervous to do it at night.

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Blondage · 20/10/2013 11:06

My dd did this at the exact same time. I truly believe in the Wonder Weeks and how 4 month sleep regression can really turn your babies sleeping pattern upside down!
It lasted until 1 week ago, so was about 6 weeks long. She went from sleeping through, to waking 5-6 times a night, just needing to be comforted back to sleep. In the end, I used to take her into spare room about 2am and co sleep. Not ideal, and I did panic that she would never sleep in her cot again, but it got me through the day with sleep!
Then magically a week ago she's back to sleeping through 8-8 in her cot! Just try and grit your teeth through it, and do what you have to to get some ZZZ's!!!! Sending hugs x

rootypig · 21/10/2013 04:37

she's back to sleeping through 8-8 in her cot

that is magic

Cavort · 21/10/2013 05:25

This is currently happening to me with our 15 week DD. The Wonder Weeks does make me feel slightly better that it's happening for a reason and will end but the sleeplessness is still bloody tough!

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